A commoner Mumbaikar usually takes a public transport such as train or bus to commute daily. During the peak hours or rush hours of the day, they travel with a lot of hustle in a jam-packed train or bus. People are seen hanging out of the doors with just their feet on the footboards, risking their lives, so that they can reach college, office and home on time. Taking into consideration the struggle faced by citizens, the Bombay High Court (HC) has expressed serious concern on this matter.
"Passengers stand hopelessly on the footboards. Many of them meet with an accident and are killed. How can you blame the negligence on the passengers?" the HC asked railway authorities.
The HC raised these questions against railways while it was hearing out case of Alpesh Dhotre.
Thirteen years ago, a student named Alpesh Dhotre was travelling in Virar local train. As we all know Virar locals are known for jam pack trains, the kid fell down from running train and died. His parents made an appeal to the railway authorities asking compensation for their valuable loss. The compensation claim was rejected by the railways. After they rejected the claim, Dhotre's parents went to the court. A hearing was held on Monday, August 28, on the petition filed. Justice Prithviraj Chavan was hearing the case. Balasaheb Deshmukh, lawyer hired by Alpesh's parents argued that getting compensation is right of Alpesh Dhotre's parents.
In this case, the report submitted by the Divisional Managers is inconsistent with the investigation conducted by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP). Deshmukh appealed that the court should consider the documentary evidence in this case. The railway authorities had also alleged that it was complete negligent behaviour of Alpesh to stand on the footboard of the train, which eventually led to his accidental death. Deshmukh argued that there is no evidence of the allegations made by the railways.
After hearing the arguments of Deshmukh, the lawyer of railway authorities, Chintan Aggarwal, presented the case on behalf of railways, said that Alpesh did not had a local train ticket while he was onboard. He argued that Alpesh was not a valid local train passenger. Hence, when Alpesh's parents appealed the authorities to pay a compensation, their claim was rejected by the railways.
The court heard the arguments of both the sides. It has reserved its decision on matter. Meanwhile, Justice Chavan expressed a serious concern about the overcrowding in the local trains of Mumbai. He also bombarded the railway administration with the questions of safety of the passengers. The decision of this case will be taken in the upcoming hearing.
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